Dealership says panhandler rejected job offer: ‘I make more money than any of you’

BRIGHTON, Mich. -- A Michigan auto dealership posted a sign discouraging people from giving money to a panhandler after managers said they offered him a job – and he turned it down.

A sign displayed on a car at the Honda dealership was created as a public service announcement, according to WDIV.

It reads:

"Please do not give anything to this panhandler. We offered him a full-time job at $10 per hour. He said, 'I make more than any of you,' and he did not want the job. Please donate to a more worthy cause."

Workers at the Honda dealership declined to comment on camera, but there were plenty of comments on social media. The sign and its message went viral.

"It's a scam," Brighton resident Dan Golem told WDIV. "People like me, people like you, we're working trying to provide for our families, and they're just standing there."

Felicia Tubbs, who works at the Shell Gas Station across the street, said she took pizza to the car dealership employees.

"I don't like them standing there. No one else does, either. I think it's great that the dealership put some effort into trying to get rid of them," Tubbs told WDIV.

For over a year, she said a duo of panhandlers would stand at the road with signs saying, "Homeless, please help." Drivers knew them and described them as a father and son.

"At first, you feel bad for them," a driver said. "But then it's day after day, week after week."

Police got involved Tuesday, June 13th, and arrested the pair, according to WDIV.

Tubbs told the station she saw the same men asking for money shortly after the arrest. She said she snapped the picture of the men with a new sign that reads, "You can't afford a one-bedroom apartment on $10 per hour." The other one reads, "The median income in Livingston County is $70,000."

Michigan State Police troopers said two people were arrested for vagrancy and disorderly conduct. Their names weren't released because they haven't been charged.